Bled castle

BLED CASTLE – according to written sources, the oldest castle in Slovenia, first mentioned in a 1011 donation deed as castellum Veldes.

Perched atop a steep cliff rising 130 metres above the glacial Lake Bled is a symbol of Bled and Slovenia – Bled Castle. The image of the castle forming a dramatic backdrop to the romantic island and the church on it has earned the resort worldwide recognition through the centuries. Castle terraces offer spectacular views of the lake and the island, down the Dežela area with Lesce and Radovljica and over to the mountain ranges of the Karavanke and the Julian Alps.

It has been over a thousand years since on 10 April 1004 the German king Henry II conferred the estate of Bled located in the province called in Carniola on Bishop Albuin of Brixen and his church. In 1011 Henry II awarded Albuin's successor, Adalberon, the castle on the cliff (castellum Veldes) in a charter in which the castle was first explicitly mentioned. The Bled Castle was the administrative seat of the Brixen estate in the Gorenjsko region. Medieval documents refer to Bled with its German name Veldes. In terms of written documents, Bled Castle is the oldest castle in Slovenia. Castle buildings are arranged around the lower and upper courtyards.

The fame of Bled and its beauties was spread around the world by world travellers, including Janez Vajkard Valvasor and his Glory of the Duchy of Carniola of 1689.

Owing to its strategic geographic location, Bled has always been an important venue of high–level political and other official meetings. Its castle has been visited by a number of high-ranking statesmen who enjoyed the breathtakingly beautiful views of the surrounding nature.